In the seeding round, held in Hamilton: …………………………………………………… The 6th-seeded North York Bathurst Heights Bears defeated the 16th-seeded Agincourt Leacock Lions 55-26 as Denham Brown scored 20. Terry Gordon led the Lions with 10. …………………………………………………… The 7th-seeded Ernestown Eagles defeated the 13th-seeded Mississauga Westwood Wildcats 57-54 as Nate Doornekamp scored 20, while Mike Smart and Ben Doornekamp hooped 17 apiece for the Eagles, who led by 10 at the break and as much as 17 in the second half. “It wasn’t as close a game as the final score indicated,” Eagles assistant coach Wayne Myers told the Kingston Whig-Standard. The Eagles missed six consecutive free throws down the stretch. “We should have put it away with those foul shots but we didn’t, and then they started hitting a few three-point shots.” The Wildcats hit four treys in the final 1:54, including three by Andrew Bent, who paced the Wildcats with 18. …………………………………………………… The Tecumseh Ste. Anne Saints defeated the Toronto Oakwood Barons 37-35 as Dave Marcoux scored 16 (also reported as 14), Justin Goggins 8 and Mike Sovran 8. Barons point guard Giancarlo Falcioni, celebrating his 19th birthday, told the Toronto Star that “every part of our game failed … We played poorly and it was a big disappointment. We’re lucky we get another chance and now is when we have to make it count.” With Oakwood’s 6-9 post Stevan Marcetic on the bench after picking up two fouls in the opening few minutes, the Barons held a slim 12-11 edge after the first quarter and led 21-17 at halftime. But St. Anne took over at the break and led by seven with two minutes left in the game. “We were flat and didn’t do anything well while (St. Anne) took away our inside game,” said Oakwood coach Terry Thomson. “We hadn’t played in 10 days and I wonder if the layoff was a factor.” Ben Katz paced the Barons with 11. Falcioni added 9. …………………………………………………… The 8th-seeded Burlington Nelson Lords (who received an invitation as the second GHAC ‘host berth) dumped the 14th-seeded Sudbury LaSalle Lancers 61-23 as Joe Heale, son of former Laurentian Voyageurs coach Mike Heale, scored 15. Wade Currie added 9 and Jon Behie 8. The Lords led 9-0 early and 14-3, 31-7 and 47-20 at the quarters. Lords coach Bob Stacey told the Hamilton Spectator that “they said no one took them out of their game. Their game is control. Once they got down 9-0, they couldn’t stall. They had to try and play some game with us.” Matt Riopelle paced the Lancers with 9. Aaron Sidenberg added 6. Lancers guard Josh Whetung said “we’ve never played them before and we didn’t expect their defence to be that amazing. They were really physical. They played in-your-face the whole game. … They didn’t back off. They’re tough. Denial all game.” …………………………………………………… The 4th-seeded Ottawa St. Patrick’s Fighting Irish edged the 10th-seeded Scarborough Jean Vanier Mavericks 73-69. “We didn’t panic. We just stayed focused as a team and kept our composure,” forward John Kulwartin told the Ottawa Citizen. “But they sure didn’t play like a 10th seed.” Kulwartin scored 12 of his team-high 19 as the Irish dug themselves out of an early 13-point hole. “I thought, as a team, we stepped it up in the second half,” said Irish guard Bilas (Gus) Abou-Assaly, who scored 17, including 8 in a dominant third quarter. “The smart thing about this team is they knew I was hot, so they kept getting me the ball. We share the basketball and win as a team. I had a good day today. But tomorrow it might be somebody else.” Irish assistant Mike Rowley said “I honestly think we can win this. We didn’t come down here expecting to lose. We’re one of the top four teams and, unlike last year when St. James was a power, there isn’t one dominant team. So it’s there for us.” Keiffer John led the Mavericks with 21. …………………………………………………… The top-seeded Ancaster Royals whipped the 11th-seeded Unionville Milliken Mills Knights 55-35 as John Vermeer scored 15 (also reported as 12), Eli Carlone 15, Chris Sims 13. Royals coach Bill Wynne told the Hamilton Spectator that “it was a nice start. All of the kids played good, solid basketball. We executed offensively and defensively the way we hoped. … Our defence played well tonight. Offensively, we missed a few open looks but a lot shots went in.” Royal Scot Mcleod said “our attitude is to attack each game the same.” The Royals led 2-17, 30-16 and 43-25 at the quarters. Peter Kotsopoulos led the Knights with 14. Mohamed Saleh added 9. …………………………………………………… The 5th-seeded Brantford Assumption Lions dispatched the 15th-seeded London A.B. Lucas Vikings x-x. …………………………………………………… The 2nd-seeded Hamilton Cathedral Gaels crushed the 12th-seeded Ajax Pickering St. Mary Monarchs 72-46 as Ryan Miller and Kwabana Beckles each scored 18. The Gaels had nearly squandered a 16-point lead in the first half and led 32-27 at the break. The Monarchs hit two buckets at the start of the second half to rally within one but Ryan Millar notched a thundering dunk that turned the tide. Miller told the Hamilton Spectator that “I was just trying to help motivate the team. … You have to come out strong. Hopefully, there will be no more mental lapses. It can be a little nerve-wracking.” Gaels coach Roy Kabartas said “In some ways, we were kind of beating ourselves. We were taking risks, gambling and missing. We tried to impress on our take to make them earn it. Keep in front of them on defence.” Jahmal Carter led the Monarchs with 14. Monarchs coach Mike Gordensky said “we couldn’t’ stop the two big kids from crashing the boards. They are very deep, a lot deeper than us. They stepped it up and we got tired.”
In the second round: …………………………………………………… The 6th-seeded North York Bathurst Heights Bears defeated 11th-seeded Unionville Milliken Mills Knights 65-52 as Denham Brown scored 18. Arnell Scott led the Knights with 13. The Knights (coached by Chris Sarellas) included Corey Muirhead, Peter Kotsopoulos, Mohamed Saleh. …………………………………………………… The 7th-seeded Ernestown Eagles clipped 10th-seeded Scarborough Jean Vanier Mavericks 60-45 as Mike Smart scored 26, Nate Doornekamp 12 and Ben Doornekamp 10. Smart hit 15 free throws in the fourth quarter. “We were terrible from the line in [Wednesday’s game],” Smart told the Kingston Whig-Standard. “Everybody was missing foul shots. I know I missed six, but [yesterday] we shot very well from the line, which allowed us to work with a nice lead.” The Eagles led 27-18 at halftime. Smart said the Eagles were benefitted by familiarity. “Ben and I have played on the same team since we started playing in Grade 5, and Nate, too, give or take a year. When you’ve played together that long, you get to know each other’s strengths and weaknesses.” Eagles coach Tom Turnbull said the Mavericks “are very athletic, very aggressive, and they like to fast- break you to death. Fortunately, we were able to slow down the tempo, and Smart, in particular, did an excellent job of taking care of the basketball. We didn’t give up many turnovers.” Turnbull pointed to two fourth-quarter plays as turning points: Paul Paudyn’s and Ryan Sharpe’s back-to-back treys after the Mavericks had closed the point-gap to eight points, and Nate Doornekamp’s message-sending dunk followed by a Jean Vanier player clanking an attempted dunk off the rim. “[Jean Vanier] is a real emotional bunch, an in-your-face type of team. You could see how those two plays really deflated them.” Miguel Khan led the Mavericks with 10. Aaron Antrobus added 10. The Mavericks (coached by Don Marchione, assisted by Ozzie Celebre) included Gary Dussard, Anderson St. Val, Adrian Douglas, Richie Beadle, Andrew Morris, Keiffer John, Tom Krasny, Ansley Lee-Ellis, Mike Fontanilla, Darren Amador, Kwess George, Courtney Walters and Brian DaSilva. …………………………………………………… The 9th-seeded Tecumseh Ste. Anne Saints defeated the 14th-seeded Sudbury LaSalle Lancers 65-32 as Dustin Goggin scored 20. The Saints led 11-7, 35-14 and 47-21 at the quarters. Ben Kapanga led LaSalle with 11. Kevin Brine added 9. The Lancers (coached by Mitch Lalonde) also include Matt Riopelle, Josh Whetung, Chezare Miller. …………………………………………………… The 8th-seeded Burlington Nelson Lords stunned the 3rd-seeded Toronto Oakwood Barons 51-44 to deny coach Terry Thomson another run at a title in his retirement year. The Lords led 45-44 with 75 seconds to play, when Baron Ben Katz was called for a charging foul. Nelson iced it with 6 free throws, a pair apiece from Wade Currie, Jon Behie and Blair Mearns. Chris Keith paced the Lords with 16. Joe Heale added 15 and Wade Currie 14. Thomson told the Toronto Star that “the OFSAA experience is the ultimate in high school sports. I love it. I’ll miss it.” Ben Katz led the Barons with 10, while 6-9 centre Stevan Marcetic added 9 and Phil Hann 9. “They did their best,” Thomson told the Hamilton Spectator. “We had a great year. It’s easy to win. You have to learn from losing.” The Barons also included Greg McKoy, Giancarlo Falcioni. …………………………………………………… The 4th-seeded Ottawa St. Patrick’s Fighting Irish dumped the 13th-seeded Mississauga Westwood Wildcats 65-46 as B.J. Charles scored 16. Marlon Pompey led the Wildcats with 18. …………………………………………………… The 5th-seeded Brantford Assumption Lions clipped the 12th-seeded Ajax Pickering St. Mary Monarchs 54-41 as Tyson Dorsey scored 33. Mark Skerritt led the Monarchs (coach Mike Gordensky) with 17. …………………………………………………… The top-seeded Ancaster Royals stomped the 16th-seeded Agincourt Stephen Leacock Collegiate Lions 68-19 as Chris Simms scored 19. The Royals bench outscored the Lions 18-2 in the fourth quarter. Royals coach Bob Wynne told the Hamilton Spectator that “I was pleased with the way these kids came in and played.” Jeffrey Glover led the Lions with 7. …………………………………………………… The 2nd-seeded Hamilton Cathedral Gaels whipped the 15th-seeded London A.B. Lucas Vikings 67-36 as Ryan Miller scored 17. Dan Binnington led the Vikings with 11.
In the quarterfinals, the 4th-seeded Ottawa St. Patrick’s Fighting Irish thrashed the Brantford Assumption Lions 74-60 as B.J. Charles scored 22 and John Kulwartin 21, along with 14 boards, including eight in the third quarter. The Fighting Irish struggled early but finished strong. “That seems to be our pattern here,” Kulwartin told the Ottawa Citizen. “But in the second quarter, I had enough. No more second chances. …I stepped it up at the time my team needed me. Now we’ve got to worry about the next game. But if we continue to take it step by step, I think we’ll be there at the end.” Off-guard B.J. Charles drilled 13 in the first half as undersized Irish adjusted to playing the taller Lions. St. Patrick’s foot speed and quick hands wore down Assumption in the second half. “It’s tiring playing two games a day,” Kulwartin said. “But with all the tournaments we’ve played in this year, we’re getting used to it. I think our ability to come on strong in the second half shows we’re ready.” The Lions made a late 11-0 run on a trio from beyond the arc by Matt Hoo and two free throws by Tyson Dorsey. But Charles drilled a 10-foot jumper. Then Kulwartin notched a putback on an offensive tip and drained a pair from the line to restore a 13-point St. Patrick’s lead with 4:30 to play. Tyson Dorsey paced the Lions with 20. The Lions (coached by Brian Jonker, assisted by Dan Jonker) also included Paul Petrella, Dennis Andree, Teryn Proracki, Chris Messecar, Alpha O’Kieffe, Jason Ouelette, Dan Ouellete, Steve Balazs, Chris Norkus, Kip Kramer and Marco Fernandes.
The 6th-seeded North York Bathurst Heights Bears defeated the 9th-seeded Tecumseh St. Anne Saints 53-32 as Andrew Carpenter scored 14. Lucas Romeo paced the Saints with 17. The Saints (coached by Larry Loebach, assisted by Roger Mousseau and Tom Foster) included Justin Goggins, Mike Sovran, J.P. Bekasiuk, Matt Devin, Ryan Walker, Dave Marcoux, Paul Bunagan, Andre Marques, Ben Snow, Ace Perez, Connor Shea, Gus Abou-Zeeni, Kent Miffin and Ryan Lazar.
The 2nd-seeded Hamilton Cathedral Gaels defeated the 7th-seeded Ernestown Eagles 57-56 on a buzzer-beating trey by Lloyd Cockett to cap a rally from a 20-point deficit. Ernestown led 25-5 in the second quarter, 40-25 at the half and 48-44 after three quarters. Leigh Taylor hit a trey to give Cathedral a 52-50 lead. Ernestown tied the score and then Rick Paudyn notched a bucket to give the Eagles a 56-54 lead. But he missed the free throw on the and-one, setting the stage for Cockett’s heroics. Leigh Taylor told the Hamilton Spectator that “it’s unbelievable. We showed a lot of people today what we are capable of doing. … This could have been my last game. I wanted to make sure I went out with a bang … We held them to 17 points in the second half. That’s unbelievable.” Gaels coach Roy Kybartas said “there’s not a lot of coaching involved. There’s no real strategy. The guys just have to go hard.” Leigh Taylor led the Gaels with 19. Cockett added 17 and Kwabana Beckles 8. Mike Smart paced the Eagles with 21. Nate Doornekamp added 9, and Ryan Sharpe 12, all on treys. The Eagles (coached by Tom Turnbull, assisted by Stewart Williams, Chris Smith and Wayne Meyers) also included Ben Doornekamp, Aaron Doornekamp, Paul Paudyn, Luke Greene, Dave Snyder and Alan Olner.
In the last quarterfinal, the top-seeded Ancaster Royals defeated the 8th-seeded Burlington Nelson Lords 49-43 as Justin Dickens scored 13 (also reported as 11) and Chris Sims 10. The Royals led 30-16 at the half but the Lords rallied to within 44-43 with 1:50 to play. Justin Dickens hit 1-2 from the line for Ancaster. Lord Wade Currie missed a trey and then Scott McLeod and Randle Delfaco ech hit a pair from the line as the Royals pulled out the win. Justin Dickens told the Hamilton Specator that “I was just trying to concentrate on the shot, into getting my legs into it. It was do or die and we did. We live to fight another day.” Randle Defalco said “I have been having troubles and was a feeling a little frustrated so I tried to use to my advantage. I like getting in there in tight games and giving it everything because that way you don’t to question yourself after about giving it all.” Scott McLeod said “we deserve this game and I knew I was going to hit them.” Chris Sims said Royals assistant Mark Sambrook “give us advice and keeps us calm. He really helps out that way. When it was really tough out there, he calmed us down and really helped us out. Nelson settled back in it, played their game with tough defence but we proved to be the better team tonight.” Jon Behie paced the Lords with 19 (also reported as 12) and Joe Heale 16. Lords coach Bob Stacey said “I thought we did a good job in the third quarter to give ourselves a chance. We really believed if we played defence, we’d give ourselves a chance. We had a chance at the end and Wade’s been our shooter. It’s not his fault. They had big hands and they weren’t letting him shoot, which is tough.” The Lords (coached by Bob Stacey, assisted John Simioni and Jamie MacIntyre) also included Wade Currie, Blair Mearns, Chris Keith, Aaron Sidenberg, Mike Muir, Jordan Petrie, Pete Hill, Stu Craig, Fraser Dow, Gary Holman and Jim Robinson.
In the semis, the 4th-seeded St. Patrick’s Fighting Irish shocked the top-seeded Ancaster Royals 59-43 as B.J. Charles scored 15 and John Kulwartin 14. The Fighting Irish led 19-12, 32-27 and 51-34 at the quarters. Charles told the Hamilton Spectator that “we’ve been waiting for this since December (when the Fighting Irish lost to Ancaster in a preseason tournament). Everybody was ready. We’re capable of playing like this every game we play. We were quicker and our defence really pressured them. They must have had about 20 turnovers and the defence was responsible for having them throw the ball away.” Justin Dickens led the Royals with 17 (also reported as 18). Eli Carlone, Jon Vermeer and Chris Sims scored a combined 19. Royals coach Bob Wynne said “the bottom line was that you have to get up the floor and into an offence. There was a time in the second half that we just didn’t do it. They just outexecuted us. They did a few nice things defensively. They changed up their pressure, made us think, and we did not adjust. We’ve had a little bit of trouble advancing the ball against pressure and it was our undoing today.”
In the other semi, the 6th-seeded North York Bathurst Heights Bears upset the 2nd-seeded host Hamilton Cathedral Gaels 74-58 as Denham Brown scored 28, including five from beyond the arc, Omar Simpson 13 and Shane Morrison 13. The Bears led 17-4 after one quarter, and by 54-48 in fourth quarter. Bears coach Bob Maydo told the Hamilton Spectator that “Denham is a fantastic player. One of the finest in the province and very young. He’s not just offence either. He only scored 3 points the game before, but he was as much of a factor. He plays both ends.” Leigh Taylor led the Gaels with 14. Reggie Akrong added 13, Lloyd Cockett 12 and Brian Jeremie 10. Jeremie said “we didn’t come out aggressively enough on the defensive end. You try to play catch-up and sooner or later, it will catch up with you.” Gaels coach Roy Kybartas said “you can’t just keep doing it, expecting to pull it out of the fire. For some reason early, we just stand around.”
In the bronze medal game, the top-seeded Ancaster Royals benefited from 11 treys to beat the host and 2nd-seeded Hamilton Cathedral Gaels 74-60. Chris Sims led the Royals with 31. Jon Vermeer added 17. Leigh Taylor and Louis Proietti had 18 and 16, respectively, for Cathedral. The Gaels (coach Ray Karbatas) also included Lloyd Cockett, Kwabana Beckles, Reggie Akrong, Jon Maga, Brian Jeremie, Matt Erdman, Brian Jeremie and Ryan Millar.
In the final, the 6th-seeded North York Bathurst Heights Bears defeated the 4th-seeded Ottawa St. Patrick’s Fighting Irish 73-43 in a rematch of the 1999 bronze medal battle. Grade 10 guard Shane Morrison and Grade 11 whiz kid Denham Brown were the catalysts in a see-saw match in the first half with the lead changing hands nine times in the first quarter and the teams playing to a 31-31 draw at halftime. Then the roof fell in for St. Pat’s despite a (52-9) season. It was their third consecutive loss of the season to the 41-4 Bears. “They blew it open in the second half, started a run and had a much better interior defence,” Irish coach Barry Bregman told the Toronto Star. “We wanted to push the ball and they slowed the game down on us. They played very well and there’s no shame losing to them.” Morrison said “our defence took control in the second half and shut them down. They were frustrated and you could see them give up.” With only eight players dressed, and Morrison’s game-high 26 points leading five Bears with double digits, Bathurst’s quickness and defence undid the Irish. “We were sloppy in the first half and people thought we’d tire out with a small bench,” said Denham Brown, who scored 16 and a team-high 97 over the course of the tournament. John Kulwartin led the Irish with 10. Dion Williams added 9. “Bathurst played great, they just killed us in the second half,” Irish guard B.J. Charles told the Ottawa Citizen. “They’re the best team in the province, and they went out and proved it.” Bregman added that “it’s disappointing, but I don’t know how to explain it. We’ve played so many games this season, but we haven’t played one like this. But Bathurst deserves all the credit. They were shorthanded, playing with only eight players. Unfortunately, their shots were falling, and ours weren’t.” Gus Abou-Assaly hit three jump shots to key an 8-0 run that put the Irish up 24-20 with 4:41 left in the second quarter. Then Morrison drained a running jumper from the lane, capping an 8-0 run that put the Bears up by four with 1:20 left in the half. John Kulwartin followed with a layup for the Irish and, after Morrison hit one of two free throws, Irish guard Dion Williams knocked down a trey with 29 seconds left, pulling the Irish even at 31-31 at the break. Bathurst Heights broke the game open in the third quarter, stifling St. Pat’s with a zone defence. Morrison kept breaking down the Irish off the dribble as the Bears built a 49-38 lead after three quarters. Bears forward Jason Knight put the game out of reach when he took Morrison’s pass and raced in for a dunk and a 61-41 lead, part of an 18-2 run that turned the game into a rout.
Following the tournament, Bathurst Heights was reported to have used three players in their sixth year of high school varsity athletics, while playing in the North York Secondary School Association, one of only two Ontario school board leagues to allow sixth year players. But Bathurst Heights used the three players in the playoffs, contrary to OFSAA rules. Tri-City president informed OFSAA executive director Colin Hood that the association was “withdrawing Bathurst as our representative because the school didn’t meet our operating rules.” Hood subsequently recommended to OFSAA’s executive committee that Bathurst Heights be stripped of its title and the gold medal position vacated. But the committee subsequently decides that Bathurst Heights can keep its gold medal.
The bronze medalist Ancaster Royals: Chris Sims; Jon Vermeer; Eli Carlone; Justin Dickens; Randle Defalco; Scott McLeod; Jordan Foebel; Ben Johnstone; Jamie Bondarenko; Kyle Cupido; Brad Jourie; Paul Ingrassia; Chuck Zylvytis; coach Bob Wynne; assistant Mike Sambrook
The silver medalist Ottawa St. Patrick’s Fighting Irish: John Kulwartin; B.J. Charles; Dion Williams; Jose Flores; Edilson Silva; Ali Mahmoud; Guy Abou-Assaly; Richard Bowes; Alain Vixamar; Kyle Suite; Bou Chiv; Phil Wilson; coach Barry Bregman; assistant Mike Rowley
The gold medalist North York Bathurst Heights Bears: Shane Morrison; Liviti Clark; Andrew Carpenter; Herman Jeffries; Denham Brown; Tim Jones; Scott Wheeler; Shaun Knight; Steve Taylor; Jason Knight; Omar Simpson; Fabian James; Jerome Watson; coach Bob Maydo